Vegetables · Tuber

Growing potato

Solanum tuberosum · also called Aloo, Olu (Kashmiri)A cool season tuber crop planted from seed tubers on ridges. It needs cool nights to form tubers and is hurt by frost.

Where are you growing?

Sub-tropical foothills: Jammu, Kangra, Dehradun

Includes AI suggestions where no published guide covers a detail

A flowering potato plant with white flowers and a lifted tuber resting on its leaves — Photo: Forest & Kim Starr · CC BY 3.0

At a glance

Potato in the Sub-tropical foothills

Season
Autumn crop planted in September and October; a spring crop planted in late January^1,2
Sowing to last picking
Early varieties take 70 to 90 days, medium 90 to 100 and late 110 to 130 days.¹
Sow
September to October²

Across India

When to sow it

Twelve growing regions, January to December. Your region comes first.

Too late this season

The window here was September to October. The next one opens in January.

Sowing now in:Gangetic plains Central plateau Deccan plateau South interior East coast

Sow
Harvest
Today
Not suited here

Sub-tropical foothillsJammu, Kangra, Dehradun Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, Kullu North-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, Delhi

Compare all 12 regions

Temperate HimalayaKashmir valley, Shimla, Kullu Cold desertLadakh, Lahaul and Spiti North-west plainsPunjab, Haryana, Delhi Gangetic plainseastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal plains North-east hills and valleysAssam, Meghalaya, Sikkim Arid westRajasthan, Kutch, north Gujarat Central plateauMadhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Vidarbha Deccan plateauinterior Maharashtra, Telangana, north Karnataka South interiorBengaluru, Mysuru, interior Tamil Nadu West coastKerala, Goa, KonkanNot suited here East coastcoastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, coastal Andhra

Today

See the dates as a table

Region	Sow	Harvest
Sub-tropical foothills	September to OctoberSecond half of January	January to FebruaryApril to May
Temperate Himalaya	Mid-March to AprilApril to MayJanuary to February	September to OctoberSeptember to OctoberMay to June
Cold desert	April to May	September to October
North-west plains	Last week of September to mid-OctoberSecond half of January	February to MarchApril
Gangetic plains	Mid-OctoberEnd of October to mid-NovemberEarly November	February to MarchJanuary to February
North-east hills and valleys	March to April	July to August
Arid west	Mid-OctoberMid-September	February to MarchMid-November to December
Central plateau	Mid-October to NovemberEnd of June	February to MarchSeptember to October
Deccan plateau	End of June to JulyMid-October to November	September to OctoberFebruary to March
South interior	March to AprilAugust to SeptemberJanuary to FebruaryEnd of JuneMid-October to November
West coast	Not suited here
East coast	Early NovemberOctober to November	January to February

From seed to harvest

One season, day by day

Days from sowing

Before sowing

Green manure before planting

Sunhemp or dhaincha

50 kg seed per hectare

Sow from the end of June to the first week of July and plough it in 7 to 8 weeks later, before planting potato.

^1,2

Day 0

Sow

Just before planting

Farmyard manure (FYM)

20 t per acre (50 t per hectare)

Spread after the first ploughing, just before planting.

^1,2

Day 14 to 28

Seeds come up

^1,2,4

Day 70 to 130

Last picking

Water every 7 to 10 days, more at stolon formation, tuber initiation and tuber development.¹

Before sowing
Sunhemp or dhaincha^1,2
50 kg seed per hectare · Sow from the end of June to the first week of July and plough it in 7 to 8 weeks later, before planting potato. · Green manure before planting
Day 0
Sow
Farmyard manure (FYM)
20 t per acre (50 t per hectare) · Spread after the first ploughing, just before planting.
Day 14 to 28
Seeds come up^1,2,4
Day 70 to 130
Last picking¹

Water every 7 to 10 days, more at stolon formation, tuber initiation and tuber development.¹

What it needs

Soil, sun and warmth

Soil pH¹
6.5 to 7.5
Grows in alluvial, black, red and laterite soils. Alkaline and saline soils do not suit it.
Sunlight³
Full sun. Grows well when days are sunny and nights are cool.
Temperature¹
Grows best at 15 to 20 °C
Frost: none tolerated.
Monthly temperatures for the Sub-tropical foothills aren't in the library yet.

Water and feeding

Watering¹

Give a light watering before planting if the soil is dry, for even sprouting. After earthing up, water every 7 to 10 days. Keep the water below three quarters of the ridge height. Stop watering 10 to 15 days before harvest so the skins firm up.

Weeding¹

Earthing up 25 to 30 days after planting and again 10 days later keeps weeds down along the ridges.

When	What	How much	How
Green manure before planting	Sunhemp or dhaincha	50 kg seed per hectare	Sow from the end of June to the first week of July and plough it in 7 to 8 weeks later, before planting potato.
Just before planting	Farmyard manure (FYM)	20 t per acre (50 t per hectare)	Spread after the first ploughing, just before planting.

Sources^1,2

Varieties and yield

Typical range

20 to 30 tonnes a hectare

Yields vary with the plot, the seed and the season.

Varieties grown here¹

Kufri Pukhraj
Early (70 to 90 days); yellow tubers; resists early blight.
Kufri Khyati
Early; moderately resistant to early and late blight.
Kufri Surya
Early; heat tolerant, for early planting.
Kufri Jyoti
Medium (90 to 100 days); wide adaptability.
Kufri Bahar
Medium; early bulking.
Kufri Chipsona-1
Medium; for chips and French fries.
Kufri Arun
Medium; red tubers.
Kufri Sindhuri
Late (110 to 130 days); red tubers; copes with low fertility.
Kufri Badshah
Late; moderately resistant to early and late blight.

Good neighbours⁴

Grows well with

Onion
Mustard
Wheat
Sugarcane
Fennel
Linseed

Keep it away from

Pests and diseases¹

Organic and cultural controls only.

Pest
Cutworm (Agrotis species)
Signs
Caterpillars cut young plants at night.
What to do
- Flood the beds and pick out and destroy the caterpillars that come up.
Pest
Potato aphid (Myzus persicae)
Signs
Aphids on the leaves; they spread leaf roll and mosaic viruses.
What to do
- Plant the autumn crop early, in September and early October.
Pest
Potato tuber moth (Phthorimaea operculella)
Signs
Caterpillars tunnel into tubers in the field and in store.
What to do
- Do not leave tubers exposed in the field.
- Store tubers under a layer of sand or wheat or paddy straw.
- Keep the store clean.
Disease
Early blight (Alternaria solani)
Signs
Brown leaf spots with rings; leaves die and drop. Stems and tubers can be hit in bad years.
What to do
- Plant clean seed tubers.
- Earth up high so tubers stay covered.
Disease
Late blight (Phytophthora infestans)
Signs
Small brown patches start at leaf edges and kill the foliage in days in cloudy, wet weather. Tubers rot too.
What to do
- Take seed tubers from a field that had no blight.
- Grow resistant varieties.
- Earth up high and do not flood the field during wet spells.
- Remove the first infected leaves and plants early.
Disease
Leaf roll and mosaic viruses
Signs
Rolled, puckered leaves and stunted plants.
What to do
- Pull out infected plants as soon as they show.
- Cut the haulms in the third or fourth week of December, when aphids build up.

Seed and the season's end

Saving seed^1,3

Plant a seed crop from healthy, virus-free seed tubers. Pull out sick-looking plants as they appear. Renew seed every 3 to 4 years: yield falls when the same seed is replanted year after year.

When the seed is ready

Cut the haulms once aphids reach 20 per 100 leaves, then leave the tubers in the soil for about 15 days to mature.

Grade the tubers and keep them in cold storage at 2 to 4 °C until the next planting season.

After the last picking

Clear haulms and cull tubers after digging. The autumn crop is often followed by okra, sweet corn or a summer vegetable; avoid potato or tomato on the same land the next season.

Collect and destroy crop debris and cull tubers; do not leave rejected tubers lying in the open.

Rotation

Grow potato in a rotation with cereals and pulses, for example potato, mung, paddy, rather than potato after potato.

Sources

Where this comes from

Reviewed by our team on 13 November 2026.

These published guides are the sources. Where none of them covers a detail for this region, the page shows an AI suggestion and labels it.

1Package of Practices for Vegetable Crops 2020 (Potato)Directorate of Extension, SKUAST-JammuRead the source
2Package of Practices for Vegetable Crops 2016 (Potato)Directorate of Extension, SKUAST-JammuRead the source
4Potato: package of practices (source NHB)Vikaspedia (Government of India), citing National Horticulture BoardRead the source
5Production Technology of Vegetables and Flowers (VSF-231), Part I: Vegetable production (Potato)CSK Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur (Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture)Read the source
6AESA based IPM package: PotatoNational Institute of Plant Health Management and Directorate of Plant Protection, Quarantine and Storage, Government of IndiaRead the source
7Horticulture: Vegetables: Potato (TNAU Agritech Portal)Tamil Nadu Agricultural UniversityRead the source

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Growing potato

Potato in the Sub-tropical foothills

When to sow it

One season, day by day

Soil, sun and warmth

Soil pH1

Sunlight3

Temperature1

Water and feeding

Watering1

Weeding1

Varieties and yield

Good neighbours4Includes AI suggestionsPart of this comes from the sources cited. The rest is an AI suggestion.

Pests and diseases1

Cutworm (Agrotis species)

Potato aphid (Myzus persicae)

Potato tuber moth (Phthorimaea operculella)

Early blight (Alternaria solani)

Late blight (Phytophthora infestans)

Leaf roll and mosaic viruses

Seed and the season's end

Saving seed1,3

After the last pickingAI suggestionNo published guide covers this for the Sub-tropical foothills, so this is an AI suggestion. Check it with local advice before you rely on it.